Strands Hint

#750Monday, March 23, 2026

Strands answers for March 23, 2026 — “In pieces” (#750)

The NYT Strands spangram for March 23, 2026 (puzzle #750) is BREAKDOWN, a 9-letter answer to the theme "In pieces". The 6 theme words are CRACK, FRACTURE, RUPTURE, SHATTER, SNAP and SPLINTER.

CRACKFRACTURERUPTURESHATTERSNAPSPLINTERBREAKDOWN

Where is each answer on the March 23 Strands board?

Strands #750 resolves to these 6 theme words plus the spangram BREAKDOWN.

The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 7 answers. Every position comes from solving the grid outright — the answers have to tile all 48 letters with no overlap and no remainder, which is what makes a single arrangement provable.

Verified board positions, Strands puzzle #750
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
CRACK5row 4, column 2row 8, column 1top to bottom
FRACTURE8row 1, column 5row 5, column 5top to bottom
RUPTURE7row 1, column 2row 4, column 1top to bottom
SHATTER7row 5, column 4row 8, column 5top to bottom
SNAP4row 5, column 6row 8, column 6top to bottom
SPLINTER8row 1, column 3row 8, column 2top to bottom
BREAKDOWN9row 2, column 5row 8, column 3diagonally across the grid

What did the March 23 Strands grid look like?

Puzzle #750 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.

URSRFRPTPEBARULACTECIKURRNDSESATOHANCEWTTAKRNERP

Spangram — 9 letters6 theme words

Each line traces one answer through the letters it uses; the heavier yellow line is the spangram.

Read across the grid, row 1 reads U-R-S-R-F-R, row 2 reads P-T-P-E-B-A, row 3 reads R-U-L-A-C-T, row 4 reads E-C-I-K-U-R, row 5 reads R-N-D-S-E-S, row 6 reads A-T-O-H-A-N, row 7 reads C-E-W-T-T-A, and row 8 reads K-R-N-E-R-P.

How hard was the March 23 Strands puzzle?

Strands #750 scores easy on our difficulty index, harder than 9% of every Strands puzzle published so far.

Difficulty
9
percentile, easy
Path turns
22
direction changes
Decoy words
1505
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
6.5
letters per theme word

Easiest puzzle ever published on the left, hardest on the right. The formula behind the score, and the ranked list of every puzzle, are on the Strands difficulty index.

Who made the March 23 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #750 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Christina Iverson. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.

Common questions about the March 23 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on March 23, 2026?

The Strands clue for March 23, 2026 is “In pieces”, on puzzle #750. It is answered by the spangram BREAKDOWN, and all 6 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on March 23, 2026?

The 6 Strands theme words for March 23, 2026 are CRACK, FRACTURE, RUPTURE, SHATTER, SNAP and SPLINTER, plus the spangram BREAKDOWN.

What was the big word in the March 23, 2026 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for March 23, 2026 is BREAKDOWN, 9 letters long, running from row 2, column 5 to row 8, column 3. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.

What did the Strands theme “In pieces” mean?

The Strands theme “In pieces” for March 23, 2026 means BREAKDOWN — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 6 theme words is an example of it.

How many theme words are in Strands March 23, 2026?

Strands puzzle #750 has 6 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the March 23, 2026 Strands puzzle?

Strands #750 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 9% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on March 23, 2026?

The Strands puzzle published on Monday, March 23, 2026 is #750, counting from the game's launch on March 4, 2024.


Today’s puzzle and its hint ladder are on the front page. This puzzle sits in March 2026, part of the full Strands archive.